Harry Potter 8 and the Next Generation
by LZTD-D
Summary: This is exactly what it says in the title: the 8th Harry Potter book as envisioned by a guy who was bored and decided to write the first-best fanfic that came to mind since he didn't have anything to read handy . Just a little fun. Update: After forever, I found the time and motivation to write part two. My writing's improved a bit since, so I hope you'll enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter1: This is all wrong

The sun was setting behind the mountains to the east. Biting autumn winds were racing over the green hills around. Heavy clouds piled up in the darkening sky above. Standing on a grassy top in the middle of it all was a single shadowy figure, wrapped in a billowing cloak, watching the buzz around the castle below.

A procession of tiny lights was creeping towards the brightly lit fortress, snaking its way over the winding road that connected to the village lying behind the hills to the cloaked figure's right. There also were a handful of lights gliding over the now night-blackened lake next to it. The cloaked figure watched them intently.

* * *

><p>Albus Severus Potter walked rigid amidst the other first-years. Looking straight ahead, he strode down the great hall while trying his best to ignore the calls and looks coming from the surrounding 4 tables. His left hand was caught in the crushing grip of Rose Weasley, while his right hand was numb from having its sleeve pulled tight by the clutch of Lucy Weasley, Uncle Percy's daughter.<p>

The sun-blond girl had barely said a word since their meeting on the train, which would have been awkward if it hadn't been for the fire-headed Rose filling the silence with her constant, over-exited monologue. Neither of the two seemed willing to leave his side. Ever.

'_What are these two thinking!_' Albus wondered.

Why were they looking to _him_ for support when he was at least twice as scared as they were? It almost made him appreciate his third cousin, Dominique.

The second daughter of Uncle Bill was walking in front of him, dazzling with the way her incredibly silky hair swayed about the length of her slender back. It was crimson-red with black stripes added here and there. She had sat in the same train-compartment as them, but had made it very clear that she wasn't sharing it.

Rose's one attempt to include the almost unnaturally pretty girl had ended very badly. Shooting a murderous glare, Dominique had chided Rose for interrupting her while reading, called her an over-talkative brat and told her to go bother someone who could suffer the sound of her ear-ripping voice. Rose had almost cried. Albus had seethed with anger, but he softened later on when Dominique's sharp tongue succeeded in driving his obnoxious brother James away, who had come to torment them.

The 30 or so first-years reached the end of the isle. Nervous young eyes looked up to the teacher's table. Albus recognized the strong-jawed Mr. Neville, who winked reassuringly when their eyes met, as well as the ever gigantic Mr. Hagrid. The sorting hat loomed ominously on a chair in front of the table. Albus couldn't help but feel like it was staring at him with unseen eyes.

"Welcome students, to a new Year at the Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" An ancient looking bald man declared as he slowly heaved himself up from the teacher table's centremost chair.

"I am Headmaster Horace Slughorn! Don't go into the forest, stay in at night, no magic in the halls, etcetera… etcetera… I AM TO DAMN OLD FOR THIS! Lets just do the sorting and get it over with!" The frail old man dropped back into his cushioned chair.

Most of the professors palmed their faces in embarrassed dismay as the hall erupted into laughter and applause. Hagrid's massive body rocked with a suppressed chuckle. The man whom the Weasely–clan kids knew as Neville (but would be calling Professor Longbottom now) stood up and strode around the talbe to stand by the sorting hat's side. He unrolled a large scroll in his hands and the hall fell silent.

"When I call your name, come forward and sit on the chair! I will place the Hat on your head and he'll sort you out! Sort you in! Ummm... you know what I mean!"

Albus looked around to see several of the other first-years look at each other in anxiety and, in some (probably muggle-born) cases, confusion.

"Alex Bider!"

A dashing looking boy with blond hair stepped up confidently. Professor Longbottom picked the sorting hat up by the tip, Alex sat down with an ever so slightly tense smile and the hat fell over his eyes.

"Griffindor!"

The boy looked happy, but not remotely as excited as a 11 year old should have been in this situation.

"Bartholomew Newgate the fifth!"

Albus could feel his heart beating violently against his chest as one fellow newcomer after the other was called up to be sorted. His hands would have been sweating and shaking, weren't it for Lucy and Rose's continued efforts to keep them free of circulation and feeling.

"He isn't calling in the right order. He's saving us for last, Al!" Rose whispered with a mixture of dread and excitement. Stealing a nervous glace around, Al saw that just about everyone bare his extended family was gone. Dominique looked as cool headed as ever, and seemed to be having a quiet conversation with the Malfoy kid, Scorpius.

"Albus Severus Potter!"

Time seemed to slow. The realization that THE moment had finally arrived was almost enough to keep Albus from noticing the blood-flow being painfully restored to his hands. Like in trance, he stepped forward. He heard himself muttering something to his cousins. He climbed the 4 steps and turned around to face the great hall.

Eyes. All fixed on him. Full of wonder and expectation.

Albus noticed his body sitting down ontothe hard, wooden chair. He could somehow feel the dirty old wizard hat begin its descent towards him. As the old lump of magical cloth approached, he saw the great door opening on the far end of the hall. It opened soundlessly and only little. Someone in a dark cloak slipped inside. Harry caught sight of a pale faced smile, felt some sort of ripple go through the room, and then everything went dark.

"_Hello?_" Albus thought, remembering that the hat was supposed to be talking to him. There was no response, only the lingering buzz of the ripple he had just felt.

"_Mr. Sorting hat? Are you there?_"

Several more moments of quiet passed. Albus wondered if he should tell Neville about the hat's silence, but then the whispering voice he had so long fretted about finally reached in his ear, or his mind, whichever.

"_What? Oh, yes... sorting… Well, lets see who we have… WHAT?_"

Albus flinched at the sorting hat's sudden yell.

"_Another Weasley kid! From the mother's side this time! By Merlin's beard, is there no end to you?_"

"_Sorry..._" Albus reflexively thought, startled by the hat's aggressive tone. Was it normal for it to get angry?

"_I have no need for your apologies boy! Are there any more of you coming?_"

Albus' mind jumped to Rose, Lucy and Dominique, and the hat's maybe magical voice cried out in rage.

"_Four Weasley kids in one year! With those already here, you can found your own Quidditch team!_"

"_I'm really so…_"

"_Oh spare me your blubbering. I've had it! I have had it with these bloody red-haired Weaseley's in this bloody rotten castle! Time to shake things up a bit._"

"RAVENCLAW!"

When the hat lifted, Albus saw his own '_What the…?_'-expression reflected in the faces of all his family, but most of all James', who looked like he was chocking on a snitch. Deaf to the thunderous applause from the hall, Albus looked up at Neville and saw only a smile of mild surprise. A tap on the back, and he was down the stairs again, on his way towards the thunderously cheering table of Ravenclaw house.

"There is something wrong with the hat." He mumbled to Rose as he passed her, but she just smiled and gave him a hug. Her name was called and she was gone.

'_I need to tell someone! Lucy, Dominique, anyone!_' Albus thought in his stupor, but he was already being grabbed by congratulating, yellow-sleeved arms and carted off. He managed to look back just in time to see his fear come true.

"HUFFELPUFF!"

"No!" Albus yelled in dismay, struggling against the arm sitting him down and handing him butter-beer.

"It's out of your hand's now, boy." A smooth voice mused from across the table. Albus wheeled around to see the dark-cloaked figure from before, sitting with its face hood-hidden. None of the other students seemed to notice it.

"Lucy Weasely!" Neville called, his tone almost unnoticably strained.

"What do you mean!" Albus demanded while trying to get a look at the butter-beer drinking face under the hood.

"SLYTHERIN!" Albus' turning face paled, but it wasn't nearly as white or shocked as Lucy's. She sought his eyes as she stood up, and it broke his heart.

"What did you…!" Albus turned towards the dark cloaked figure again, but the spot where it had sat was empty.

"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Dominique Weasley!"

"HUFFELPUFF!"

Albus' realized that his screams were being mistake for cheers. It wasn't supposed to be this way. They were supposed to be in Gryffindor together! This was all wrong...


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

The second son of Harry and Ginny Potter was in no rush as he made his way up the long-winded staircase to the Ravenclaw dorm. His head was buzzing with ever-repeating questions, his heart was filled with worry and his ears were still ringing with the words of the long discussion he had just been at.

The moment the banquet ended, Albus had stormed off to find Rose, Lucy and Dominique. He still didn't know how he had managed to find them all, seeing how they had been split across all houses except the one they were supposed to be in. Finding his brother James, and convincing him to abandon his prefect duties to help them out, had been surprisingly easy in comparison…

Instantly taking charge, James had hushed them away into a small office and listened to their story… well, his story really, muddled by Rose's rambling, Lucy's quiet sobs and Dominique's indignant outrage. Albus had expected to be teased, made fun off or yelled at, but James had simply listened and asked a few questions before heading off to collect the Headmaster and the four heads of houses.

Twenty minutes later, he had come back with a very sleepy Slughorn and the house-heads, minus the former herbology Professor, Ms Sprout. Neville had spared Lucy a warm calming hug before letting James relay their story to them all. The new head of Ravenclaw, a pale young lady with blond hair in a tight bun, had listened intently, while scrutinizing them all through sharp elegant glasses with her even sharper blue eyes. The slightly older head of Slytherin, a lean-faced tanned man with short jet-black hair, had looked rather bored in contrast, checking his perfectly manicured nails throughout. At the end, Slughorn had opened his closed eyes, propped himself up in his chair, and gestured to the Slytherin head –Andre Maslov– to deliver the verdict.

"_The sorting hat's decisions are beyond question. Old magical artefacts are admittedly known to grow somewhat unpredictable with time, but if we overruled the sorting every time someone… no matter how prestigious… complained, what would that accomplish aside from damaging our credibility? If you want to switch houses, go through the appropriate channels and make your applications after at the beginning of next term."_

And that had been the end of that. With every step up the stairs, Albus felt his worry grow into frustration. He blamed himself. Why hadn't he told him about the hooded figure, or the odd magical '_ripple_' he had felt as it appeared? Yes, it sounded crazy, but if there was any chance it could have changed things…

Now he had to meet everyone in the owlery next morning to write a long letter to everyone at home. Was dad going to be disappointed despite his whole '_doesn't matter which house_' speech? Probably…

"Hi."

At the top of the stairs, Albus was startled by a sudden greeting. On a bench next to the Ravenclaw dorm door, someone was sat waiting. Scorpius Malfoy rose to his feet, running five fingers through his smooth blond hair while looking everywhere but at Albus.

"You here to gloat, Malfoy?" Albus snapped, too tired and frustrated to care.

"Wha..?" Scorpius looked at him with round eyes, awkwardly dropping his hands down to his sides. "Uhh… no, I noticed you weren't with the rest and figured you needed someone to get you in…" His eyes went back to wandering about the room.

Taken aback, Albus needed a moment to find his voice. "Oh. Sorry. Why do I need someone to get me in?" He asked puzzled, not sure what to think of all this.

"Well…" Scoprio scratched the back of his head. "You need to solve a riddle to get into the common room. Dad said you Potter and Weasley folk aren't so good at using your heads, so I thought I'd wait and help you out… with us being in the same… and all that."

Albus slightly cocked his head to the side. Was this guy for real?

"So you're saying I'm too dumb to get in myself."

Eyes widening, Scorpius lifted his hands up in apology. " No! Well, yes… I mean… I'm sorry, that was rude, Dad did say you were good people though." Eyes glued to the ground, Scorpius shifted uncomfortably. He was like the picture next to '_to be uncomfortable in your own skin_' in the dictionary…

Sighing, Albus shook his head. He was too tired, had gone through too much…

"Ehhh, it's fine, let's just get inside." Eyes on the door, Albus crossed the room.

After a moment of standing frozen, Scorpius turned and joined him at the door.

"A thief had a brother. The brother is dead. But when he was alive, he didn't have a brother." The eagle-shaped doorknob said in a lady's voice.

Albus and Scorpius looked at each other, searching for answers in the other's puzzled face. After a moment, Scorpius's eyes lit up and he turned to the door.

"The thief was a woman?" He said hopefully.

The door swung open without a word, revealing the Ravenclaw common room behind.

"Good j… Well d… Thank you." Albus jumbled his words as they walked in.

"Uhh… Welcome?" Scorpius mumbled with the hint of a smile. "I'm Scorpius by the way. Scorpius Malfoy."

"Al. Albus Potter. My Dad mentions yours from time to time." He replied, fidgeting with his sleeve as they crossed the warm round common-room, towards the stairs.

"Yeah. Same. I'm not sure they like each other. He pretty sure he doesn't like your uncle Ron. Says he's a bit of a meat h…" Scorpius bashfully cuts of mid-sentence.

"I know uncle Ron doesn't like him. And he's right about the meat-head part." Albus replies with a slight smile, wiping the worried look off Scorpius's face.

They reach the first-year dorm room, and Albus slowly opened door. Inside, there were four double beds, two of them occupied by very blissfully sleeping classmates. Treading quietly, Albus and Scorpius movde towards the two that had their trunks and chests by them.

"A lot of Hufflepuffs and Slytherins this year, I think there's only seven of us. Bad for the house-cup…" Scoprio whispered, his voice muffled by his robe refusing to come off his head.

Scowling in the dark, Albus tried to push aside his bitterness about being in the wrong house. "My brother James is always going on about all the points he earns for his quidditch playing. Self-important jerk…"

And with that, Albus and Scorpius fell into a long whispered talk about sports, family expectations, and their upcoming year at Hogwarts school for witchcraft and wizardry.


End file.
